WE ought to take a multi-pronged approach to tackling diabetes, starting with public education to raise awareness of the issue, as diabetes is a “lifestyle disease” that can be prevented by adopting healthy dietary habits and regular exercise. The six-month campaign that has just been launched – comprising health screenings, fitness programmes, cooking workshops, talks and other health-related courses – is a good start.

We should also start with educating the young with targeted school programmes, as kids’ diet these days is often high in sugar. That said, on a national level, we could consider introducing a “sugar tax” as France has done in 2012.